Category Archives: About Bible Teaching

Notice what the Apostle Paul said about communicating God’s Word to people: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit … (1 Cor. 2:13-16)

1) He spoke what he was taught.
2) What he learned was that which was taught by the Holy Spirit.

Without the Holy Spirit, Bible Teachers Don’t Learn What Needs to be Taught

What needs to be taught is that which aligns with spiritual truth as defined by God Himself. This passage in 1 Corinthians 2 clearly states that these truths are “discerned only through the Spirit.” Consequently, without the Spirit, teachers don’t learn spiritual truth. And, if they don’t learn spiritual truth, then what they teach will be based on human wisdom.

Words taught to us by human wisdom might result in …

a good lesson plan with a creative approach

… which are important but the objective in Bible teaching needs to go beyond.

Words taught to us by the Spirit results in …

spiritual understanding and spiritual growth,
and people come to know God better and more intimately

… which makes it a lesson worth teaching.

What Needs to Happen for Bible Teachers to Learn from the Holy Spirit?

To answer this question, let’s go back to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2. The beginning verses of the chapter show what led up to him being able to speak in such a ways that people’s “faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:5).

1. His focus was on Christ. – For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2)

Sometimes we think we need to focus on the Holy Spirit to acquire His power. Rather, the way we know the Spirit’s at work is when the focus goes to Christ. Jesus said, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (Jn. 14:26) Jesus also said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (Jn. 16:13)

2. He faced the truth about his own inadequacy. – I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. (1 Cor. 2:3)

Until we get out of the way and cease striving to do it in our own ability, the Spirit can’t fill us because we’re in control (Eph. 5:18).

3. He found the source of the power he needed outside of himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. – My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power … (1 Cor. 2:4)

We must yield to the Spirit as the real source of power needed to effectively teach. Teacher training and good lesson preparation shouldn’t be minimized. By themselves, however, without the Holy Spirit at work we won’t arrive at the true essence and power of what God is saying in His Word.

So, by the time we get to verse thirteen, Paul was able to say, “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit …” (1 Cor. 2:13-16). He could speak with such confidence because he knew he wasn’t relying on himself to make it happen. The Spirit had taught him and now he could explain it to others.

As Bible teachers, we too need to focus on Christ, knowing that apart from Him we can do nothing of eternal value (Jn. 15:5). As we do, His Spirit will teach and empower us so we in turn can communicate life-giving truth to others.

For Teacher Training Resources, Go To: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Teaching the Bible

It seems rather simple: Teachers learn so they can explain and then students accept what’s been taught.

Not so fast. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 2:13-16. None of that happens without the Holy Spirit!

Spiritual Truth Cannot Be Known, Effectively Communicated, or Accepted Without the Holy Spirit

For teachers to truly grasp the life-giving Truth of God’s Word, they need to be taught by the Spirit.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:13a)

For teachers to explain that Truth in ways that truly communicate God’s message, they need the Spirit to give them the right words to speak.

explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Cor. 2:13b)

For students to accept, learn, and apply what’s being communicated, they need the Spirit to enable them to understand and discern that what’s being communicated is from God.

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:14-16)

Truly effective Bible teaching takes the Holy Spirit at work in and through the teacher from start to finish, as well as in the hearts and minds of students. We must take great care not to minimize the role of the Spirit at any part of the teaching-learning process. Upcoming posts will look at the breakdown that occurs without the Holy Spirit at any of these stages.

Resource: The Holy Spirit & My Teaching Devotional

We’ve already noted that Titus stayed in Crete for a purpose which gave him a voice to speak into the lives of those he served. As we will see in Titus 2:1, it was important that it be both a contrasting and consistent voice.

Notice how Titus 2:1 begins, “You, however, must teach …” The conjunction (“however”), often translated “but” points to a contrast. But, to what? We find the answer back in chapter one.

Why a Contrasting Voice?

False teaching marked the world in which they lived.

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception … disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:10-11)

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. (Titus 1:16)

How will people know and believe the truth? It begins with leaders who “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught” who can then “encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). Titus was to appoint such elders, or overseers, in every town (Titus 1:5).

And, it would take teachers, speaking into the lives of those they teach in ways that stand in contrast to the false teaching. And so we read, “You, however, must teach …” At times that would require Titus to refute and correct (Titus 1:10-16) but it would also include teaching a better way (Titus 2:2-15).

Implications for Today’s Bible Teachers

We too live in a world filled with false teaching. Children and teens undoubtedly hear it in their schools where they’re taught mere theories as truth. Adults encounter it in the workplace and talking with their neighbors. Television, movies, the Internet, and other media put it on full display.

“You, however …” must speak into their lives in ways that help understand the fallacy and harmfulness of their thinking.

“You, however …” must speak into their lives in ways that let them know that …

• just because something might “seem” right doesn’t mean it “is” right or good. (Prov. 14:12)
• just because a lot of people go down that road doesn’t mean it’s right or good. (Matt. 7:13)

God’s ways are higher (Isa. 55:9). He sees the big picture. He knows what’s best. As the One of whom there’s none greater, it only makes sense that He determines what is right and good.

As Bible teachers who want to stand on the truth of God’s Word, let’s make sure we’re not always in the mode of refuting, or pointing out what wrong and bad. We can have just as much of a contrasting voice by focusing on what is right and good.

The Apostle Paul left Titus behind in Crete to “put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). The instruction he gave Titus could well apply to us as Bible teachers when he exhorted him, “You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).

The word translated “teach” in the New International Version, however isn’t that which typically gets used for teaching. Rather, laleo simply means “to utter a sound, to emit a voice make oneself heard” — hence, “… to form words with the mouth, to speak” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).

Titus stayed behind for a reason. That gave Him a voice. He was was to speak into the lives of those he stayed to serve. As we will note in future posts, Titus 2:1, suggests the kind of voice he needed to accomplish his purpose:

a contrasting voice
a consistent voice

Reading on beyond the first verse, we’ll see that Titus 2 provides at least four cues on how to use that voice effectively.

Bible Teachers, We Also Have a Voice

As Bible teachers, we too have a purpose which gives us a voice to not only “teach” (didaskso) what the Bible says but also to speak (laleo) into the lives of those we serve. To accomplish that purpose, we need the same kind of voice mentioned above — one that’s both contrasting and consistent.

Having the right kind of voice, we must then ask how we can best speak into the lives of those we teach. How do we effectively use that voice?

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